Volleyball memories.

Volleyball took forever to get started at home this year. They were away for the start of the season. Finally they played some games at Storrs by mid September. By then we already knew how special Annie Luhrsen was for UConn. We also saw how much Chauntay Mickens had improved from the year before.

I don't write too much about the details when it comes to the game itself in Volleyball because I know that I will say something wrong that The mayor of Storrs will have to correct me on. I don't particularly understand the nuances of the game. I just like it when they spike it hard into the ground, or off of someone before they get a chance to hit it. Actually in High School Lauren Lamberti told me that she spiked it so hard that once she actually knocked someone down to the ground.

The most interesting part of attending a Volleyball game with Ryan Grace, the Mayor of Storrs, is that Ryan knows so much about the game, more than most any other fan there. He always yelled "The setter was leaving early." There were also only usually about 5 or 6 of us surrounding Ryan at the games. We really enjoyed his company, but also found it slightly awkward to be next to the ONLY person heckling the referees and opposing team. Although Volleyball would like it if there were more people like the Mayor of Storrs.

One of the most unforgettable moments at a Volleyball game was when a Marquette player drilled the Mayor of Storrs twice with a Volleyball because of his heckling. That wasn't from the 2008 season. That was from the 2007 one.

A couple of times this year I helped Volleyball out in the student union. I was at a table trying to sign up people for "The Block Party" and raising money for "Dig for the Cure." It was so funny sitting with the players and watching the students walk by. It was different being the people who are sitting in the Student Union trying to get foot traffic to stop by. Chauntay Mickens and Kate Seabaugh were the best on the team at getting people to stop by. Meghan Frey wasn't too far behind.

Margot Demere let the awkwardness of what she was doing get to her. She was effective sometimes, but not always. She was my favorite one to work with though. She was cool and fun to talk with. She has a personality. Oh and her mother does too. I think it's funny when parents stop by the Marketing table. They are SO Proud of their children's accomplishments. They love talking about them. The parents I remember the most are Margot Demere's mother who also had quite a personality, Cory Bildstein's father and O'Brian White's father. Cory's father was by far my favorite. He said that his daughter was on the team...I try to make conversation so of course I ask which one. He didn't say her name, he just went "My daughter is the one who scored with 1.1 seconds left." I think that would make a great bumper sticker. Cory is too good for a name I guess. Margot Demere has the best name ever, and I thought it was a privledge to meet one of the people responsible for naming her. Her name sounds so amazing "Mar-go Dem-er-Ray."

I also think it's cool that parents of former players also come back to see games. Ryan Cordiero's parents came to a game last year. I think it was the West Virginia game. Parents from far away typically show up for tournaments and senior day. The ones who live really close by attend everything, the ones from a moderate distance show up for weekend games.

Softball parents might have it the best because the team typically has two doubleheaders on weekends.

We are getting off track though aren't we...This might be the first time I've tried to get back on track...ever.

I also passed out tons of fliers and free tickets for Volleyball to help get the word out. I walked around passing out fliers around campus, even in the rain, not because I had to, but because I wanted too. Both Lauren Lamberti and Rebecca Murray added me on facebook for some reason a long time ago. I decided I'd attend their games and help support their team because of it. That's why I end up at so many of their games.

My favorite Volleyball game was the game against Louisville. We almost pulled off the upset, we got so close. We were one point away from forcing a game 5 several different times. Gampel really got excited for that Volleyball game. There was some electricity in the air. There was also a pretty good crowd for that game. We lost, but I took at as a moral victory considering that Louisville is one of the top programs in the Big East. Beating Cincinnati was also really cool, I liked that game a lot. That was probably the best win that I remember.

Kaili McLaren was also nice enough to stop by on Senior Day for the Volleyball team. It happened to be the same day as the Women's Soccer Big East Championship. She stopped by and we talked about Volleyball and the soccer game that we had just watched for the past two-plus hours. Kaili follows women's soccer, I can tell you that. She told me her mom went to the Georgetown soccer game during the Big East Tournament.

I also spent several of the games helping Sam Witryol understand what was going on. He'd tell me stories and I'd tell him what was going on at the game. I distinctly remember going from a swimming and diving event to a volleyball game in the same day too.

Another favorite memory was the LONG line of people trying to get Block Party shirts. Once again, it proves that people will do anything for free T-Shirts. For some reason I also remember that I traveled back to make it back in time for a Volleyball game. Volleyball can take some pride, because like Men's Soccer, Women's Ice Hockey, Basketball and Baseball I planned on leaving and returning to school so I could make one of their games.

As part of Husky Sport we took kids on a field trip to campus and one of our stops happened to be a Volleyball game. The kids loved the game, the free candy, posters and media guides too. They were also thrilled to see UConn pick up a win. The Volleyball game was one of the highlights of their trip.

I also loved a couple of the half-time games at Volleyball. I think it's cool to see if you can serve the ball into a cart and also to try and complete a jigsaw puzzle. I also loved the slow clap. That slow clap worked pretty well at Volleyball games for UConn and for Ryan Grace and the Tree Hill Ravens.

Overall the 2008 Volleyball season was pretty good. The team showed a lot of improvement in 2008.